For some reason I keep my old Lego boxes (since the 1980s), and my son's old Lego packages. Because they are quite large, they take up a lot of space in my house, even if they are put one into another. I suppose I am not the only one (see this comment) who keeps them.

I actually don't know why I store them — maybe some psychological issue — but how can I effectively store old packages? And those of you who keep old boxes, do you ever display them, or browse them? Or do you just keep them?

@Ambo100: I don't think this is a duplicate question. The referenced question asked how to best store new unopened boxes to preserve their value, while this one asks how to store already opened boxes. Perhaps the title can be rephrased to better reflect the difference.
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GruberJun 26 '14 at 6:28

3 Answers
3

Well I used to keep mine as well. One thing I found very good was to take a razor or a box cutter and cut the front and backs off! this may seem obvious or defeat the purpose, but it made them easier to store. I would stack them all and slip them on a shelf or under my bed to keep them flat. This proved to be a very effective solution. Also, you could try to collapse them at the ends to have them take up less room as well.

When I was young my mother used the technique of cutting out the front and back and thus preserving the various ideas that the photographs of the set provided. She stuck the box bits into a large craft book and it was stored on the bookshelf; it was handy to get to and flip through. Don't do this; don't go cutting the front and the back off. Whilst most of the interesting information is only on the front and back, the economic value of the box is destroyed when you cut it up like this.

If you want to resell the LEGO as a set later, having the original box greatly increases the value of the set. The boxes for certain Technic sets can achieve values of $50 or $100 - just for the box.

The best way to preserve a LEGO box without it taking its full volume is to use a box cutter to cut the glue that holds the flaps onto the sides. This preserves every visible surface of the box and allows you to reassemble/re-glue it at some point in the future. Cut down like this the box takes up a fraction of its original size, and can be stored in an out-of-the-way place like an attic or on top of large shelving (be aware that a box cut down like this can be surprisingly large and unwieldy). Don't stack too many boxes atop each other like this - cardboard is both heavy and floppy, and searching through a substantial stack may require more strength/space than you have available.

Well there is two ways the easy way to throw them into a bucket or you can first separate them into groups either by size,color,set,etc. than put each group of separated LEGO bricks in some sort of container such as a bucket box or back. I think that a bucket is the best idea because it is more safe and can be put anywhere of size